Recovery Painting

Isabelle Séné was born in France in 1969 and has lived in Britain since 1991. Painting has always been in her family: her father, whom she truly admires, is a talented photographer and painter; and her mother, a wonderfully creative mind who could create beauty out of anything, discovered herself a passion for painting murals late in her life. They are Isabelle’s inspiration which led to the journey of experiencing the intimacy and freedom between the mind and the canvas, the soul and the paint. Isabelle uses colours and textures to create an emotional rather than a realistic form of expression; painting what she feels when seeing something or someone – believing the internal expression and observation holds as much value as the external. Inspired by colours, shapes and textures as well as feelings and emotions, she has a passion for engaging with unusual mediums such as pebbles, sand, strings, wood shavings or simply layers of paint applied with the hands in order to get a thickly texturized piece of art which will invoke temptation by the viewers to touch, smell and merge closely with the painting. In 2011 Isabelle resigned from the corporate world of Investment Banking and moved to the south coast in a bid to start a new life away from the hustle and bustle of London. Since then, she finished a full-time course in antiques restoration, started a successful business in furniture making and restoration with her partner, and created a much loved community project supporting marginalised women and refugees in Portsmouth. Moving to Hampshire from London was key in enabling Isabelle to develop an increased level of artistic expression and ethical rewards.